BLACKBERRIES 
THE common bramble (Rubus fruticosus) is such a 
common plant in country hedgerows, on commons, and 
in woods, and fruits so generously during September, 
that its merits as a cultivated plant have been very 
largely overlooked. It does so well in waste places 
without any assistance from man, and produces its 
richly flavoured deep black fruits so plentifully in long 
clusters that the country children find it profitable to 
harvest them, even though when the berries are sent to 
the London and other large markets the price realised is 
usually only about two shillings per peck. 
These then are the arguments against cultivating 
blackberries. What are the arguments on behalf of 
cultivation ° 
Firstly, there is the advantage of selection. Doubtless 
every reader has found that in a bramble hedgerow some 
plants have finer and better flavoured fruits than others, 
whilst others have finer clusters and a better habit of 
growth. An intending planter would reject poor forms 
and cultivate only the best. 
Secondly, cultivation itself improves blackberries, 
increasing the crop, enlarging the berry, and improving 
the flavour. 
Thirdly, it is not everyone, especially in suburban 
districts, that can command a blackberry hedge, or 
always depend upon a supply of uncultivated fruits. 
Even where they can be purchased cheaply at a market, 
blackberries so quickly lose their fine piquant flavour 
that there is no comparison between them when they 
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